The Robot Revolution

For 75 years, visions of autonomous urban systems have revolved around the self-driving car. But while AVs remain just over the commercially available horizon, autonomous stuff is already here: delivery bots on the sidewalks of London and San Francisco, a self-driving convenience store in Shanghai, and drones delivering blood to Swiss hospitals.

CityLab’s Laura Bliss, Anthony Townsend, Bryan Boyer and Greg Lindsay will host an interactive debate where provocative scenarios will be discussed, voted and proposed. This event will come after an afternoon closed-doors workshop with experts across disciplines including urban planning, technology, policy, and real estate, who will also be participating in this session.

How can autonomous systems help solve existing challenges for cities, rather than provide solutions to non-existent problems?